bluegaming_fangamesfandomcom-20200213-history
Mantendo Entertainment System
Release The Mantendo Entertainment System, produced by Mantendo, was released in Japan on the 1st of August 1988 and to the rest of the world on the 8th of August 1988, commonly referred to as 8/8/88. In 1985 After a failed effort at dominating the arcade market, losing to Seg Games in the process, The head of Mantendo Gusayiro Jamaufchi and his fellow friend Shiberu Niyanoto proposed an idea to the rest of Mantendo about a games console that would put Mantendo into the spotlight and be the first ever Video Game Console. The company agreed and after nearly 3 years of development, the Mantendo Entertainment System arrived on store shelfs. Known as the Fanicon in Japan, the Mantendo Entertainment System came bundled with its two flagship games, Project: MAL and The Myths of Avantia, both of which became immediate successes and spawned legendary franchises, two controllers and a R.O.B The Robot toy. Marketing During the lead up to the release of the Mantendo Entertainment System, many key employees within Mantendo argued how the company should market and advertise their new system. Jamaufchi argued that by advertising it as a dominant force, it would gain more of the market and beat Seg Games upcoming console the Seg System. Yet, Niyanoto argued that by advertising it as 'arcade quality in your living room' and selling it in 'toy' stores first rather than arcades or the non-existent video game shops, it would attract the causal audience as well as the gaming population. Jamaufchi agreed and in January 1988, they showcased the world what the Mantendo Entertainment System was and what it had to offer. Shown at many arcades across America, Japan and Europe, the advertising paid off and thanks to the now famous phrase 'Now you're playing with power, Mantendo power', over 6 million preorders for the MES were made within 3 months of showing it off. Overall, once Mantendo discontinued the MES in 1994, over 75 million Mantendo Entertainment System's were sold, beating Seg Games' Seg System by over 20 million. 1/3 of these sales came from North America, with 1/5 of them from Europe and other parts of the world and the rest being sold in Japan under the Fanicon name. Exclusive Titles To gain a major lead between Seg Games, Mantendo needed to gain some major exclusive titles for their system to help lure in gamers from Seg Games to Mantendo. Managing to lure in well known arcade game makers like CadiaMania and gaining an average of 100 developers each month, all Mantendo needed now was to make some amazing exclusive games. After not agreeing on one, Mantendo decided they would have two mascots for their company: Mario and Luigi, and Tom. Mario and Luigi were the two playable characters in one of the pack in games for the MES, Project: MAL http://bluegaming-fangames.wikia.com/wiki/BlueGaming_Fangames_Wiki:MAL, and would later go on to appear in two other main titles on the MES with MAL: Version 2 released in 1989 and Mario and Luigi Bros 3 released in 1991. As for Tom, the main hero in The Myths of Avantia tasked with saving the princess Elena from the villainous Zanon, he starred in the said The Myths of Avantia in 198 and a sequel followed suit called The Myths of Avantia: Tom's Adventure the following year. Both Project: MAL and The Myths of Avantia were huge critical and commercial successes, and would lead the line of Mantendo franchises to come. A huge factor to the MES's success came to its licensed sports titles. After licensing a deal with FIFA, NFL and the MLB, they released Football 89, NFL 89 and MLB 89 in 1988 to huge success. All three were recognised as better licensed sports games than the ones the Seg System had, which helped Mantendo draw in sports fans to play their selective sports. The MLB series on Mantendo systems lasted until 1993, when MLB demanded that Mantendo could no longer sell games on their series. The Football and NFL series survived longer, with both lasting until both series being bought out by Electronic Tech in 2009. Aside from the sports games and the pack in mascot games, Mantendo had a diverse selection of games to choose from. These included the first 2 Cubexio games, which Mantendo still holds license of today, Wardens Peak and Wardens Edge, the two Alley Boxing games, the two Dynasty Warriors games, and much more seeing as Mantendo drew in large support from third party developers. Third Party Support As well as gaining major acclaim of their exclusive titles compared to the Seg System, one of the main reasons to the MES's success was due to their ability to draw in third party developers that could make great games. Epicvision, a European company, made Wardens Peak for the MES and Mantendo Game Boy in December of 1988 and its sequel Wardens Edge in November 1989, as well as the two Dynasty Warriors games. Kazkam made the acclaimed Alley Boxing and Alley Boxing 2 both exclusive for the MES. They hired sports company